Travel to Central America

Salvador for Partiers

Format: Paperback
Author: Cristiano Nogueira
ReleaseDate: 17 January, 2005
Publisher: Solcat Publishing
Rating:

The inside view of Salvador, not just for partiers
Because I was given the inside view I didn't have any surprises, it prepairs you for the foods, the people, the taxis the beggers, everything. This book was very helpful for my recent trip to Salvador da Bahia. The book does have a lot of typeo's and some missing page numbers. That is made up for by the humor and the vivid pictures. It is a very quick read, but very informative and helpful, for everyone not just partiers!.

Solid choice for Salvador
I found the cultural background, sightseeing suggestions, musical genre overview, and street price guide to be quite useful during my trip. Overall, I was pleased with this guide. However, it was the cuisine and food sections (which might be even better if they were combined into one section) that were especially helpful and informative--good explanations and pictures.

As an additional bonus of getting this book, the author offers to forward complaints against taxi drivers who are problematic to the local authorities. I had one bad situation, and the author responded to my email the next day telling me that he had passed on the information. (I should add that all the other taxi drivers I had in Salvador were honest and professional. )

It is true that the book has a few "non-PC" sections, although nothing that is overly offensive for most people, or nothing that can't be ignored for those that might be. In addition, some of the places listed have vague or missing information (e. g. , no street numbers or even addresses), and the maps are not very detailed, which made it difficult to find certain places. The bottom line, however, is that this book is a useful, quirky guide to a magnificent city in a gorgeous country. Don't be put off by the title either if you're over 30--there is still good information in here for everyone, even if your partying days are fewer than in previous years . . .

Disgusting
However, reading some of the sample pages proudly displayed on the author's website [. I had considered purchasing the guide in preparation for my next trip to Salvador, thinking it might present some new insights and recommendations. . . ], I could barely contain the urge to vomit at the sight of senseless and superficial drivel this guy wrote. Most of the time I could not figure out if he was mocking foreign tourists by constantly assuming their complete brainlessness and total lack of cultural competence, or if the author himself is the kind of guy whose idea of a fun vacation is pure consumption - of alcohol, women, food, must-do items, whatever - without any regard for the local culture or people. Aside from the fact that Salvador for Partiers is generally a cheap cut and paste job (as evidenced by the reference to Ipanema in the 10 Salvador commandments section), it only reinforces the already existing negative perception of and attitude towards "first world" tourists in countries like Brazil. I would be ashamed to be seen with this guide.

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